KushiQ Aims to Launch a Yakitori Empire

It also doubles as a wind tunnel!haha
Photo: RJ Mickelson

Meat on a stick isn’t exactly a new concept: Yakitori joints have cut a wide swath from the East Village to midtown. But Asian skewers rarely appear in as slick a quick-service setting as KushiQ, the chain-in-the-making that opened yesterday in midtown.

When she’s not overseeing the automated grill, owner Jeannie Yuen runs an ad agency, which explains the twelve-seat shop’s spiffy bamboo-and-Corian design and branding-conscious logo. “A big part of success is marketing,” says Yuen, spoken like a future fast-food titan. “That’s our forte.” As for the substance behind the style, KushiQ’s streamlined menu aims to fill the midtown-lunch void with eight different skewers, from garden-variety chicken yakitori to miso-glazed tofu to Berkshire sausage with pineapple, all offered singly or in bento sets with miso soup and a choice of rice, salad, or sandwich bread. Skewer-supplementing sides include corn on the cob brushed with tare sauce, and sweet-potato fries seasoned with honey and black sesame. Lunch only for now, but breakfast, dinner, and delivery are on the way. —Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld